


easy now, with my heart

by celestialfics



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Competition, Crushes, F/F, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 10:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14163291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialfics/pseuds/celestialfics
Summary: Hana loves competitions. Everyone who knows of her knows this, but perhaps no one knows it as intimately as Brigitte does.





	easy now, with my heart

**Author's Note:**

> hey!! i've been working on this since brigitte was announced as a hero and i finally finished it up <3 hope you enjoy!
> 
> special thanks to yuki for the validation. i love u yuki!!  
> title from "tightrope" by walk the moon!

The first time that Hana and Brigitte meet in person, Hana challenges Brigitte to an arm wrestling competition.

They’ve been acquainted for only a few moments at this point, just having given each other’s names when Hana chirps, “You look strong! Let’s arm wrestle!”

Brigitte laughs immediately because just from looking between them, the outcome is gleamingly obvious. But Hana persists, sitting at a table and holding her hand out. When Brigitte doesn’t immediately take it, she wiggles her fingers at her.

Hana’s brows knit together in concentration as Brigitte succumbs with a light chuckle, sitting across from her and taking her hand, palm to palm.

In comparison, Hana’s hands are tiny. Brigitte’s hand engulfs Hana’s, but she’s still not deterred. Reinhardt, in good humor, agrees to Hana’s request that he be the referee, and so it begins.

At Reinhardt’s count, the two girls begin their competition. Brigitte knows from the moment their hands press together that she’ll be able to defeat Hana in an instant, but she doesn’t quite  _know_ Hana yet, aside from watching a few of her gaming streams, so she doesn’t want the first impression Hana has of her to be Brigitte damaging her pride. So, she pretends for a few seconds to struggle before she slams Hana’s hand against the table.

“I had you for a second there, huh?” Hana says as soon as her hand slips out of Brigitte’s. After Brigitte lets out an amused huff in unison with Reinhardt, she continues, “But, really, though, you don’t need to go easy on me, Brigitte! I just need to start lifting!” She laughs, bright and sweet, as she lifts an arm to squeeze at her bicep, and Brigitte has to consciously stop herself from swooning.

Except, that’s really  _hard_. Especially when Hana reaches across the table, wraps her hand around Brigitte’s bicep, and squeezes. She mouths “wow” and Brigitte’s cheeks heat as she lets out a nervous chuckle, suddenly wishing her godfather wasn’t in the room. (He’s going to poke at her and tease her because of this one interaction for days, she can feel it already.)

—

After a few weeks and a couple missions, Brigitte begins to feel more comfortable around the other Overwatch agents. Of course, it helps that she has family there, so she has someone to turn to when she feels overwhelmed. Reinhardt’s always been good at emotional support, and he also gives great, hardy hugs.

But most of the other agents are kind and compassionate, and Brigitte warms up to them with time. Winston urges team bonding, holding game nights in the common room at the base every so often, when a lot of agents are around.

When Brigitte walks through the room on her way to the kitchen (she’s always had a sweet tooth and someone keeps buying donuts—she doesn’t know who, but her money’s on Lúcio), she’s stopped by Hana, who’s playing cards with McCree.

“Brigitte!” she calls, waving her over, “McCree and I are playing Crazy Eights; do you know how?” 

Brigitte blinks. Hana, distracted, unknowingly holds her cards out so that McCree has a clear view of them. Brigitte resists bursting out into laughter by biting her bottom lip and nodding to her question. McCree nods once at Brigitte, coy smile pulling at his lips as well.

“You should join us then!” Hana smiles, setting down her cards to pull out a chair for Brigitte and pat the seat, beckoning her to sit.

Brigitte thinks about the donuts in the kitchen, and she thinks about Hana’s cute smile, and she sits down. (The donuts can wait.)

The other two finish the round before Brigitte is dealt in—McCree wins and Hana sticks her bottom lip out into a pout, claiming that McCree had cheated, which, in all fairness, he  _had_ —and they begin again.

They play a few rounds before McCree decides to “hit the hay,” and Brigitte catches herself yawning as well, but Hana is such a cute winner, and she may be a sore loser, but it’s also cute in a way, and  _God_ , when did Brigitte last feel like this towards someone? She’s never been one to develop feelings so easily, but it’s impossible not to when Hana is…  _Hana_.

Brigitte almost buries her face in her hands and groans at the abrupt revelation that she’s developing a rather large crush, but remembers that Hana sits right in front of her, head tilted curiously at Brigitte’s silence.  _Oh_ , she must have asked something.

“I’m sorry, what?” Brigitte asks, shaking her head slightly to rid of the trance.

“I asked if you’re tired,” Hana replies, “We don’t have to keep playing if you are, but you know, I’m winning against you two-to-three right now.” She grins, leaning her elbows on the table before her and setting her chin in her hands. “So if you quit… I’d win.”

“Oh, we can’t have that.” Brigitte straightens from her slouch and casts a smirk at Hana, glad to be given an excuse to spend more time around her.

At the end of the night, Hana does still win the game, but Brigitte goes away feeling like a winner, anyway.

—

Brigitte quickly learns that Hana’s persona, D.va, is an embellished version of the overly competitive side of herself. Many of the Overwatch agents have personas; it’s easier that way. But Hana… No,  _D.va_  worries Brigitte. She is rash. She acts as if she has no need for self preservation. She blows off things of importance. Where Hana will arm wrestle an opponent who will obviously beat her, D.va faces off against opponents who have the strength to  _kill_ her. Brigitte does not wonder why Morrison calls her a child.

More slowly, though, Brigitte learns about  _Hana_. Through glimpses, though things Hana mumbles under her breath before battles about  _destruction_ and  _home_ , Brigitte learns that there is more to Hana than just D.va. Because underneath all of the gamespeak and jokes about  _Doritos_ and  _Mtn. Dew_ , Hana is a war hero. Hana has seen things,  _done_ things that many people her age can’t even imagine.

So when, one night, Hana pops into Brigitte’s room at the base in an oversized sweater and with wide eyes, Brigitte practically leaps out of her bed to meet Hana at the door.

“Are you alright?” she asks immediately, lifting her arms to set her hands on Hana’s shoulders but hesitating, hands lifted in the air.

Hana’s tongue darts out to wet her lips, and then she looks down at the floor and shakes her head. “Uh… just bad dreams. It’s nothing, though! Do you wanna play a game?” She holds up an old console in her hand and shakes it a little.

Brigitte’s eyebrows furrow with worry as her hands drop back to her sides, but Hana has already moved on, passing Brigitte into her room and jumping onto her bed. Brigitte turns to look at her, opening her mouth to say something, but Hana opens the console and it illuminates her face in the otherwise darkness, and Brigitte’s words catch in her throat. If Hana wanted to say more, she probably just would have, so Brigitte shouldn’t push her.

Instead, she crawls onto her bed and sits beside Hana, who’s taken to sitting criss-cross. Brigitte grabs her throw blanket and drapes it across Hana’s lap, though that leaves none of the blanket for herself. Hana, realizing this, sets the console down and takes Brigitte by the arm to pull her closer, so their thighs press together. She then maneuvers the blanket over the both of them.

Smiling gently, Brigitte tries to dispel the warmth from her face. She’s lucky it’s dark enough that Hana won’t notice the redness to her cheeks.

Brigitte watches Hana play a game she doesn’t recognize on the console for a little while, before Hana nudges it into Brigitte’s hands. Brigitte blinks down at it.

“I don’t know how to play,” she states, and Hana snickers.

“Just try it,” she says, “It’s easy!”

And, well, as easy as it may be, Brigitte is terrible at it. The only saving grace here is that Hana giggles under her breath whenever Brigitte makes a mistake, which almost makes her want to screw up more.

“I was gonna make this into a competition,” Hana admits, “but I think it’s a bit stacked.” She laughs, shrugging further into her sweater.

Warmth radiates between them, and Brigitte sets the console down on her lap, letting the 8-bit music continue to play in the otherwise quiet room. Dim, white light is casted upwards from the screen. Hana tilts her head to look at Brigitte, and opens her mouth as if to say something, but shuts it before anything comes out.

The music loops, and Hana says in a small voice, “Are you ever scared?”

Brigitte frowns. “Hana…”

“It’s just—” Hana clears her throat, shrinking even further beneath the blanket. “You know, it’s hard to be brave all the time.”

There are a few ticks of silence while Brigitte thinks of how to respond, but Hana continues before she has the chance.

“It’s good to be protecting people and fighting for what’s right. But—” she cuts off, swallowing thickly. “I’m worried that some day, some mission might…” She stops, shaking her head. Her message is clear without her even saying it.  _Some mission might end with major casualties_.

Brigitte chews on her bottom lip for a second, and then maneuvers herself to sit across from Hana, knee to knee. “Hana,” she starts, “You don’t have to shoulder this all on your own. You don’t  _have_ to be brave all the time.”

Hana’s gaze holds steady with Brigitte’s.

“We never know what could happen when we go into a mission, that’s true,” Brigitte continues, “but we will always, always try our hardest to protect our comrades. I’ll… We will always protect each other. Right, Hana?”

Hana nods, lifting a hand to tuck a strand of brown hair behind her ear. When she goes to set her hand back down, she takes Brigitte’s in her own. She slots their fingers together, and she says, “Thanks for letting me come in here, I really appreciate it. Even if I didn’t… give you much of a choice.” She laughs weakly, and Brigitte, whose heart is caught in her throat, smiles warmly in return.

—

It hadn’t taken long at all for Brigitte to fall for Hana. When she thinks back on it, she’s almost embarrassed how quickly she developed feelings. One arm wrestle and… Brigitte was a goner. And, well, naturally, it only escalated from that point.

The difficult thing, now, is deciding whether or not to act on it. Brigitte has almost an uncountable number of opportunities each day to say something, but the words always catch in her throat.

When Hana’s gone—like now, assigned on a mission—Brigitte thinks about her and worries an unbearable amount. She’s almost certain that everyone at Gibraltar already caught wind of her feelings for Hana, based solely on the looks they give her when she asks if anyone’s heard back from that team, or when they see she’s bitten her fingernails down to the quick.

There are a few reasons that Brigitte has singled out for her hesitancy: one, Hana could not feel the same way, and everything would be awkward if Brigitte said anything; two, they’re both fighters in a battle that cannot afford distractions; and three, Brigitte is scared. She’s never really done this before. Even if everything worked out perfectly, and Hana liked Brigitte back, Brigitte could still… mess it up somewhere in there.

These are perfectly valid reasons in Brigitte’s mind to hold back, but every time Hana smiles at her or comes to her for comfort or even laughs at one of her jokes, Brigitte wonders,  _wouldn’t it be worth the risks?_

And Hana’s always been one to take risks, so maybe Brigitte should have predicted what came next, but prediction’s never been her forte.

Brigitte walks into her room and is surprised to see Hana splayed out face up on her bed, still in her MEKA jumpsuit, staring at the ceiling. She promptly sits up and grins at Brigitte upon seeing her.

“Hello!” she chirps. Her fingers fiddle together like she’s nervous, but her face and tone portray none of the same.

“Hi…?” Brigitte responds, perplexed. Hana doesn’t usually visit without asking, and especially not just after she’s returned from a mission. “I’m glad you’re back safely.”

Hana clicks her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She seems to think for a moment, and then she says, “About that.”

Brigitte’s heart drops. She reflexively scans Hana’s body for injuries, but Hana lifts a hand to giggle into her palm.

“You’re so cute, worried about me.” Hana tugs at the hem of one of her gloves, casting her gaze down after seeing Brigitte’s painfully worried expression. “But really, there was a… I almost… Okay, if it wasn’t for Lúcio, I wouldn’t be here now, I don’t think.” She swallows thickly. “But I was thinking—and this is probably dumb or something, but when I was launched out of my MEKA, and then when I was fighting by tooth and nail, Brigitte… I thought about how sad it would be if I never got back to tell you how I feel about you.”

Brigitte blinks once, twice. Her breathing catches in her throat as she tries to comprehend all Hana’s just said. “You’re—You’re okay, though?”

Hana bites her lip and nods rapidly. She meets eyes with Brigitte again, something hopeful painting her expression.

Still concerned, Brigitte walks over to the bed and carefully perches herself on the edge. She gives Hana another once-over, and once she’s completely sure Hana isn’t harmed, she lets out a long breath. Then the conversation catches up with her.

“Wh—What do you mean, how you feel? About me?” Brigitte’s eyes grow wider when Hana begins to chuckle under her breath, eyes closing for a moment before they flicker open to look up at Brigitte again.  _She’s so beautiful_.

“I mean, like,” she pauses, pulling her gloves off and laying them on the bed beside her. “When I look at you, my heart beats all crazy, you know?” She presses her hands to her chest and grins, almost shyly. If Hana could be shy. “And I wonder if yours does the same? And if you think about me as much as I think about you?”

Brigitte feels a blush spread across her cheeks and down her neck. “I wonder the same about you,” she admits, looking down at her lap as a smile pulls at her lips.

Just before Brigitte begins to speak again, Hana lifts a hand to Brigitte’s cheek, fingertips smoothing over her skin and then tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Brigitte’s gaze flickers between Hana’s eyes and her lips.

“I’ve been thinking about telling you,” Brigitte says, and Hana tilts her head as if to ask  _Why not?_  Brigitte bites at her bottom lip for a moment before releasing it and continuing, “I was… scared. That you wouldn’t feel the same, or that you wouldn’t want to…” she trails off. “I don’t know.”

“Wouldn’t want to kiss you?” Hana responds, grinning wider as the blush on Brigitte’s cheeks deepens. “Because I definitely do. So don’t worry about that.”

Brigitte sputters for a moment, and Hana lifts her other hand to hold the other side of Brigitte’s face. Holding her face in her hands, Hana looks at her, and she says, “It’s okay to be scared. But now you know… you don’t have to be scared of this. Right?”

Brigitte nods against Hana’s palms, and Hana’s eyes crinkle in the corners as she smiles. Brigitte could never get tired of looking at that smile.

But after another few quiet moments, Hana leans forward, her eyes fluttering shut and head tilting ever so slightly to catch Brigitte’s mouth with her own. Brigitte freezes for a split second, but immediately sinks into the touch, leaning towards Hana and bringing her own hands to rest on Hana’s waist.

They part soon thereafter, but Brigitte pulls Hana back in. Hana’s hands slip back to the nape of Brigitte’s neck, fingers threading through her hair. Their lips connect and disconnect and reconnect with no sense of rhythm, and all Brigitte knows is that she’s insanely happy. She moves to start planting kisses all around Hana’s face—her cheeks, her nose, her jawline—and Hana giggles delightfully. Brigitte is just  _so_ happy. All fear, doubt, reluctance in the back of her mind has vanished, and she relishes in the sound of Hana’s laughter.

—

Whenever Hana mentions this event later, she always seems triumphant that she’d made the first move. Which, Brigitte thinks with good humor and a smile on her face, is very typical of her. 

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/liquidsaints) & [tumblr](http://liquidsaints.tumblr.com/)
> 
> thanks for reading! <3


End file.
